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Story:Starship Helena/Point of Divergence/Act One
Act One Fade In Est. Space The Helena is at impulse speed. Int. Briefing room Captain Taylor, Commander Martin, Lieutenant Kelby, Lieutenant Commander Samson, Lieutenant Daniel Mitchell, Lieutenant Junior Grade Sasha Mitchell, Doctor Steven Carlson, Lieutenant Commander Smith, Lieutenant Commander T'Shar are sitting around the table. Capt. Taylor: Are there inhabited systems nearby?. T'Shar turns to her. Ltcmdr. T'Shar: None. Captain Taylor is confused by that. Capt. Taylor: Why fly right up to us just to give us the silent treatment?. Smith looks at them. Ltcmdr. Smith: Maybe they got our signal but it didn't make any sense to them. Our translator is far from perfect since the refit was completed. Cmdr. Martin: Maybe they checked us out and decided we weren't very interesting. Samson turns to him. Ltcmdr. Samson: Us? Not interesting?. The staff snickers a bit. Capt. Taylor: We're far from the nearest subspace relay, let's calibrate the subspace amplifier. At least the people back home want to talk to us. The senior staff leaves the briefing room. Ltcmdr. Smith: Sir? (quietly) I tracked them down. It took me all week. Martin walks up to her. Cmdr. Martin: Where are they?. She looks at him. Ltcmdr. Smith: Kota Baharu. It's in Malaysia. He looks at her. Cmdr. Martin: What time is it there?. She thinks for a minute and looks at him. Ltcmdr. Smith: A little after nine at night. He thinks for a minute. Cmdr. Martin: That shouldn't be too late. Let's break in that new amplifier. I'll be in my office near my quarters. They both leave the briefing room. Ext. Space The Helena is at impulse speed. Int. Commander Martin's office John is sitting in his chair. Cmdr. Martin: Admiral Taylor how is it in Malaysia?. He smiles. Adm. Taylor (on monitor): Great I'm guessing that this isn't about my vacation with my wife Commander?. Fleet Capt. Taylor (On monitor): Is Marcia all right?. John smiles. Cmdr. Martin: Yes, ma'am she's fine her birthday's coming up in a few months. Her parents smile. Adm. Taylor (on monitor): Yes it is Mary Taylor chimes in. Fleet Capt. Taylor (on monitor): August 23rd she usually calls us when she told us she was going to be commanding the Helena, and we've not heard from her in along time. He looks at the monitor. Cmdr. Martin: I was wondering what she liked to eat?. They look at each other. Fleet Capt. Taylor (on monitor): Commander, Marcia's never been comfortable making requests. John is confused by what she said. Cmdr. Martin: I'm not sure I'm following ma'am?. Adm. Taylor (on monitor): She always ate what was in front of her. John leans forward at the monitor. Cmdr. Martin: Are you saying that she has no favorite food sir?. Fleet Captain Taylor chimes in. Fleet Capt. Taylor (on monitor): Not that she's ever told me. He looks at the monitor. Cmdr. Martin: Well if you can think of anything you know you can always reach us anytime. They nod. Fleet Capt. Taylor (on monitor): Give Marcia our best. He nods. Adm. Taylor (on monitor): Safe journey Commander. The transmission ends. Int. Main bridge Commander Martin walks onto the bridge and walks over to Commander Smith. Ltcmdr. Smith: How did it go?. He breathes. Cmdr. Martin: Could of gone better, apparently she's not talked to her parents since we've left Earth, and they don't know what she likes to eat I want you to find out what she enjoys to eat. She looks at him. Ltcdmr. Smith: Me, sir?. He looks at her. Cmdr. Martin: But don't let the Captain know. She leans back in her chair. Ltcmdr. Smith: Can't Chef do this?. He looks at her. Cmdr. Martin: We're talking about a delicate assignment, Julia. It needs your finesse. She looks at the screen. Ltcmdr. Smith: Sir, I'm running a diagnostic on our subspace transceiver array. He looks at her. Cmdr. Martin: Get some help if you need it, but make this a top priority. That's an order. She looks at him. Ltcmdr. Smith: Aye, sir. Ext. Space (warp field) The Helena is at warp speed. Int. Deck 6, Rec center John is working out on the treadmill when Marcia walks into the room. Marcia: I knew I'd find you here working out. He smiles. John: You know me I'd like to stay in shape Captain. She smiles at him. Marcia: True and in shape you look like it. She gets on a bike and works out as well. John: (Snickers a bit) very funny. Then they feel the ship power down as the whistle blew. Ltcmdr. Smith (oc): Bridge to Captain Taylor our friends have returned. They left the workout room and head to the Bridge. Int. Main Bridge Commander Martin and Captain Taylor walk out of the turbolift as Commander Smith gets out of the Captain's Chair. Capt. Taylor: Guess we weren't so uninteresting after all. T'Shar turns to them. Ltcmdr. T'Shar: They dropped out of warp five hundred kilometer's dead ahead. Daniel turns to the Captain. Lt. Mitchell: I had to reverse engines to keep from banging into them. Taylor turns to Smith. Capt. Taylor: Let's try this again. (Commander Smith opens a channel) Capt. Taylor: Welcome back. I was hoping we'd have an opportunity to meet again. The primary mission of my ship is to make peaceful contact with other species. If there's anything we can do to assure you of our intentions (pauses, Julia shakes her head) Well, it's been nice talking to you. Let's do this again sometime. Then Smith looks at the Captain. Ltcmdr. Smith: I'm picking up something. Taylor turns to her. Capt. Taylor: Can you translate it? She shakes her head. Ltcmdr. Smith: I don't think it's a language. (An eardrum busting sound rips through the Bridge.) Ltcmdr. T'Shar: We're being scanned. Cut To: Ext. Space The green vessel starts firing at the Helena causing explosions along the outer hull. Int. Main Bridge (Red Alert) Sparks erupt from the ceiling and MSD as Taylor hangs onto her arm rest and turns to Commander Samson. Capt. Taylor: SHIELDS! He looks at his console and turns. Ltcmdr. Samson: It's off-line. (BOOM!) Capt. Taylor: Hard about defensive pattern Kirk Epsilon. Then the ship stops jolting. Daniel looks at his console. Lt. Mitchell: They've gone to warp. She gets up from the chair in confusion. Capt. Taylor: Everybody okay? Smith looks at her. Ltcmdr. Smith: Damage reports are coming in, Captain. No one's been hurt. She looks over at T'Shar. Capt. Taylor: What the hell was that all about? T'Shar turns to her. Ltcmdr. T'Shar: Captain, when they fired their weapon they dropped their shielding for about two seconds and I was able to take some scans. Taylor leans on the rail. Capt. Taylor: What you got? She looks at her. Ltcmdr. T'Shar: Biosigns. At least fifteen, maybe more, Their DNA doesn't match anything in our database. Commander Samson looks at them. Ltcmdr. Samson: It's a good thing they're gone. I doubt very much our torpedoes could've penetrated their shielding. She turns to the viewer. Capt. Taylor: Stay on long-range scanners. If they come anywhere near us, I want to know I'll be in my ready room Commander you've got the Bridge Mitchell resume our course. Taylor leaves for her ready room as Commander Martin sits in the Captain's Chair. Ext. Space (warp field) Helena soars at warp 7. Int. Captain's Ready Room Taylor is looking at the desktop monitor at the NX-01 Enterprise mission logs, when the doors chimed. Capt. Taylor: Come. Commander Martin walks into her ready room. Capt. Taylor: Anything on long-range? Martin looks at her. Cmdr. Martin: Nothing yet but T'Shar are still keeping her eyes on her scanner, what are you doing? She looks at him. Capt. Taylor: Something about this caught my attention so I reviewed the NX-01 Enterprise mission logs, from their first years in space and came across this (turns the desktop monitor to show him the mission log) Martin sat down in the chair in front of the desk. Cmdr. Martin: Starlog September 1st, 2151. We've just deployed our first subspace amplifier to chat with our friends and family back home mostly send reports to Starfleet Command, hmm President Archer was very through with his starlogs back in that day but what does this have to do with our mysterious friend? She looks at him. Capt. Taylor: I've had T'Shar run the scans of that ship with scans of the ship from the Enterprise mission logs (hands him a padd) (Padd shows the two ships power signatures matching) Cmdr. Martin: It's a match? She nods at him. Capt. Taylor: I've been thinking Helena was fitted with phaser cannon ports but since we left spacedock ahead of schedule the cannons were never installed, I think it's about they were I'm ordering a course back home. Int. Armory Commander Samson and Commander Kelby are trying to talk the Captain out of it. Ltcmdr. Samson: Give us two weeks Captain. She shakes her head. Ltcmdr. Kelby: Ma'am most the stuff we need is onboard, and we can do it better then the boys at Jupiter station and this way we won't have to be stuck in dry-dock. She looks at them. Capt. Taylor: The armory team at Jupiter Station is trained for this kind of work. If we're going to do this let's do it right. He looks at her. Ltcmdr. Kelby: Captain, my engineers are just as good as they are. She puts her hand on his shoulder. Capt. Taylor: I know that, Mike, but we have other systems that could use overhauls. Look at the bright side. You'll got a chance to say goodbye to Natalie. (She starts to leave as Samson calls out.) Ltcmdr. Samson: Captain, with your permission, we could at least begin the work, get a few things started for Jupiter Station. Kelby chimes in as well. Ltcmdr. Kelby: It'll cut down the time we'll have to spend in spacedock. She nods at them. Capt. Taylor: Do what you can. (walks over to the com panel and presses the button) Taylor to Mitchell. Lt. Mitchell OC: Go ahead, Captain. She looks at both Kelby and Samson. Capt. Taylor: We're heading home. Ext. Space The Helena goes into a great arch and leaps into warp. (End of Act One, Fade out)